Unraveling Unhappiness
by Converse r life
Summary: There are specific moments in life when, no matter how hard a girl might try, she needed her mother.
1. Chapter 1

_**Hello, my lovely readers. Well, this story has been bouncing around my noggin for awhile, and it took me a week, but I finally wrote it down. I won't babble on for long, only to say that I will be updating my other stories soon, and I do not own the character of Marin. He belongs to xJadeRainx. Everything else is my imagination. So without further ado, read on, and please, **_REVIEW_**.**_

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They were giggling again.

Idly, Attina looked over the top of her schoolbook, just enough to see a group of girls huddled together. The teacher should have started class ten minutes ago, but he was late. So instead, they were all swapping summer stories, each trying to outdo the other with some fantastic tale. Every now and then though, one of the girls would look over at a boy, then quickly turn back to her friends and laugh like a maniac.

For the life of her, the princess could not understand _what_ was going on.

After all, these were the merboys they all had grown up with. Why were they suddenly so interesting to the girls in her class? What, had they suddenly gotten uglier over the summer?

Attina peaked over at a group of them, and shook the idea off. Nope. Still the same rotten batch from last year, and all the years previous.

So then what was the matter with all the girls?

"Are you sure you have _everything_?" A familiar voice forced Attina out of her thoughts, and she looked up in surprise.

A mother with a toddler on her hip, and a very amused father, Marin's parents, seemed to have taken it upon themselves to see their son was settled for his first day of school. The only problem with that being, of course, that at old age of eleven, parents usually just dropped their children off and that was it! At this stage in life, no one needed their parents to be at school!

Wait, but why was Marin this close to her, when they had sworn a pact to hate each other for eternity? Unless…

Attina looked over at the empty desk next to her, suddenly very worried. Her heart pounded in her ears, and she hoped against hope that her instinct was wrong. Unfortunately, his name was indeed on the desk.

She mentally groaned. Every year it was the same thing.

Curse alphabetical order.

"Yes, Mom." An annoyed looking Marin slipped into the desk next to the princess, slumping into his seat. "Now, _go_."

"Marin, be nice," the boy's father chastised, "we only gets one chance to do this with you, and in a few years, we won't be able to do it at all."

"Okay, Dad." The merboy in question sighed, casting his eyes downwards and playing with his nameplate.

_How humiliating_, Attina thought, smirking to herself.

Still, a part of her considered whether it was really all that bad. After all, it looked kind of…well, sweet, the way his parents seemed to want to make this day a special memory. It sort of seemed nice to have someone dole out all that attention on you.

"Attina!" The sound of her name made the girl whip her head upwards. "I didn't even see you there."

Marin's mother smiled at her in a way that had become so familiar over the years. Attina managed a quick grin. The woman had always been nice, and it didn't hurt that she made the best tasting birthday cake in Atlantica. All of her son's school chums agreed that it was the highlight of his party.

"Hi, Mr. and Mrs. Erkens," Attina replied, smiling wider when the toddler on the woman's hip babbled something her direction. "Hi, Miana."

"Hello to you, too." Mr. Erkens smiled at her, before he nudged his son. "Marin?"

The boy rolled his eyes, glaring at his desk and not bothering to look at her as he mumbled a half-hearted, "Hey."

In response, Attina dropped her eyes back to her schoolbook, sighing melodramatically before saying a very stiff, "Hi."

"You two are next to each other again?" Mrs. Erkens frowned, noticing the nameplate on Attina's own desk. "_Every_ year," the woman swore to herself, shaking her head.

"Well, now that you're a year older, does that mean you'll get along?" Mr. Erkens asked, though there was almost suppressed laughter behind his words, as though he didn't even believe them.

"_No_."

The word flew out of the children's mouths faster than they could process it. They didn't even look surprised that they had said it at the same time; after all, the adults should know by now that they could not _stand_ one another.

"It was worth a shot," Mr. Erkens chuckled to himself.

"Hey, Marin!" A voice from afar cried out, the owner of said voice swimming closer to the merboy. "Oh, hey Mr. and Mrs. Erkens."

"Hello, Joren." Mrs. Erkens greeted, though with hesitation.

Joren was one of those children who was always just one fin stroke short of being a juvenile delinquent. He was a good boy at heart, but he didn't think his ideas through. His parents had little control over his antics, and most of his ideas required more than one person, which was always worrisome.

"Hi, Attina," Joren leaned on the girl's desk, forcing her to focus on him. "So, what'd _you _do this summer?"

The girl suddenly drew a blank. What _had_ she done this summer? This was always the best time of year for her, when she enjoyed a fleeting few moments of popularity in the wake of some grand story. Being a royal had definitely had its perks. But right now, she couldn't remember what sort of vacation she had taken with her family.

Then, her heart sank in her chest. Of course. She had gone nowhere this year.

"I didn't go anywhere," she admitted in a quiet voice, straining slightly to make herself sound calm. "I stayed at the palace all summer."

"Oh, come on," Joren laughed it off, apparently too dull to put two and two together. "You must have gone _somewhere_, or at least, done _something_ interesting."

"I…um…" She struggled to find a summer story, but it was a lost cause. Her summer had passed in a blur of mourners and monsters. "I went to the surface!"

Immediately, she regretted those words.

"The _surface_?" The merboy repeated breathlessly, his eyes wide with shock. "That's…_awesome_! Did you get to see any humans?"

With a stinging pain in her heart, Attina nodded. She had seen humans alright. She could never live _that_ memory down.

"Oh, cool! Then what happened?" Joren wondered, still breathless with excitement. Attina opened her mouth to say something, anything, but he quickly cut her off. "Wait, hold on, let me get everyone so you can tell us _all _what happened!"

The merboy quickly swam off, headed to a group of school chums with this information. Attina watched numbly as he started to animatedly start talking to the children, his hands flying about in excitement. Suddenly, the smiles and laughter faded from the boys faces, replaced by worried looks sent in her direction. The girl quickly pulled her eyes down, pretending to be immersed in her reading.

From her peripheral vision, she noticed Marin's parents staring at her. His mother in particular seemed to want to say something, but the words just were not there. The girl sighed. Even adults didn't know how to confront this situation.

"Well," Mr. Erkens voice sounded awkward, like he was struggling to keep it normal. "We should be going."

"That sounds," Mrs. Erkens adjusted her grip on the toddler, using that as an excuse to find the proper words, "like a good idea. Marin?"

"Bye," Marin said quickly, apparently hoping that his parents would leave soon. Attina noticed his eyes wander to her once, but then quickly settle back on his desk.

"Bye to you too, son." Affectionally, Mr. Erkens ruffled Marin's hair.

"Have a good day!" Mrs. Erkens added quickly. Then, she cautiously looked over at the other girl, who was pretending to ignore this entire situation. "Erm…bye to you too, Attina."

"Oh!" Attina looked up from her schoolbook, as though she hadn't been paying attention to the exchange just minutes before. "Goodbye, Mr. and Mrs. Erkens."

WIth one more glance in her direction, a worried one at that, both parents and their toddler quickly swam off. Attina returned to her schoolbook, once again trying to block out her surroundings. Beside her, Marin got up and headed to the group of boys.

"Joren, are you _stupid_?" She heard Marin's voice clear across the room. Immediately, she hunched her shoulders, protecting herself against what she knew was going to happen.

"He's not stupid, he just doesn't have a brain!" Another person declared, laughing.

Joren started to whine. "Awe, c'mon guys, what did I do?"

"You asked Attina what happened this summer!" Marin spoke up once more, and there was a sound of someone being punched in the shoulder. She winced.

"What's wrong with that?" Joren wondered, confusion lighting his tone. "She said she went to the surface, and that was it!"

"Joren, what happened to Queen Athena on the surface this summer?" Another exasperated boy, though it was put in an obvious sort of tone. Attina flinched at the sound of her mother's name.

"Oh, the Queen died."

And there it was. The blunt, casual, cruel shadow that seemed to linger over every part of her life. Queen Athena is dead, killed by humans; it was the story on everybody's lips. No one seemed to remember that she went by another name too; she was called 'Momma' by seven girls.

The same exasperated boy from before continued his questioning. "And who was Attina's mom?"

The girl in question gripped at her book tightly, willing herself not to cry at the way they so easily incorporated 'was'. It felt like a all three points of the trident were stabbing into her at once at the very thought that her mother can no longer be considered in the present tense. She could not cry; not now, not here.

"Her mom is…" Though she wasn't looking at him, Attina heard very well as he gave a gasp. "Her mom was Queen Athena."

"Yeah, nice going, Joren," someone sneered, "You were supposed to be nicer to her, not ask her about what happened!"

"I didn't know!"

Marin snorted. "You're lucky she's not upset. You should've just dropped it when she said she spent the summer at the palace."

"I'm tired of talking about this," another voice complained. "Can we talk about, I don't know, Kiala? Or Rena?"

Just like that, the conversation changed. The merboys were suddenly on the topic of girls, something which the princess tuned out because she assumed that, like all their conversations from previous years, it would just be about how to prank them. In a moment's notice, the adult world was left behind, and they were able to go back to their merry lives.

Attina, her heart breaking little by little, envied them so.

With a sigh, she placed her book flat on her desk. Then, she put her face in her arms, content never to see the light of day again. This wasn't the first time she wished she could simply vanish into thin waters.

"Alright, alright!" A authoritative voice called through the room, causing every child to swivel their head to the front. "Everyone in their _right_ seats, come on."

The merchildren looked at one another, each immediately staking out the teacher. They were trying to determine what they could and could not get away with this year. Judging by the man's tardiness, their impression was not very kind.

With dramatic sighs, rolled eyes, and promises of 'see you later', they all dispersed across the room. Thankfully, Attina had already been seated, so she didn't need to move. Unfortunately, however, that also meant that Marin swam back to his seat next to _her_.

"Is everyone where they're supposed to be? Check your desk tags," the instructor said, causing about twenty heads to look down, before nodding back up at him. The man turned around to write on the board. "Good. My name is Mr. Finn, class, and I'll be your teacher this year."

From the corner of her eye, Attina saw a note already being passed around. Figures, she thought. Everyone was itching to find out who this teacher was, and if any older siblings had had him before.

"Before we go over some class rules and what we'll be covering this year," Mr. Finn started, running a hand through his greying hair, "let's do a quick roll call so that I can start memorizing your names. Dorie Aarne?"

"Here!" The girl in the very front of class called out, with no small amount of pep in her voice. Mr. Finn looked at her a moment before nodding, his brown eyes returning to the attendance sheet in front of him.

"Joren Arrain?"

"Hereeeeeee," the merboy yawned, drawing out the word as he did so. Mr. Finn didn't seem to notice, or really care, and he kept on.

"Adonas Cech?" In her peripheral vision, Attina noticed her other neighbor being slipped the note from earlier.

"I'm here!"

The girl was suddenly startled when she felt something being pressed against her hand. She turned to look at the person sitting to her left, Rena Fiala, but found that the girl was staring straight ahead, half asleep. Yet, it seemed like the mermaid had to be the one pressing that piece of paper against her hand…

Oh! She was being passed a note! Attina's heart started to race. She was never passed notes in class, never. This must be something important!

"Talya Cipris?"

She quickly received the note, and then sneakily placed it into her schoolbook. For a second, she looked around, before determining that the teacher would not catch her. Then, she began to read what it said.

"Present, Mr. Finn!"

_Do you think Marin is cute?_

That was all the note asked, in bubbly handwriting. The girl looked up, noticing Bria Lahti looking straight at her. The other mermaid's head was tilted to the side, as she twisted a neat blonde curl around her finger. Sighing, Attina turned slightly to her right, to take a second glance at the boy she'd known forever.

"Larcan Donne?"

Marin didn't look all that different than last year. Maybe a bit taller, but no more than the pre-teen girl he was forced to sit next to. His blonde hair had grown over the summer, and despite the bored look he had, his eyes still seemed to sparkle with that mischievous glint. He even had a lazy half-grin, as though he knew a joke no one else was allowed to know.

In all, Attina would have to conclude that yes, he was _kind _of cute.

"Here, sir!"

Wait a minute, the girl's mind suddenly recoiled. Kind of _cute_? It was just last year that the boy had pulled her hair, stolen her dolls, and had sworn that the only thing she'd ever be queen of was morrats (**a.n. the Atlantican version of cooties**)! How could she ever consider him _cute_ when he was so…so...!

"Marin Erkens?"

Why was Bria even asking _her_ this? Why was Bria even _considering_ that the boys in their class might be anything but annoying? After all, last year the girls had agreed that the boys were nothing short of stupid; what could have possibly changed that over one little summer break?

"Here!"

Attina looked back at Bria, mouthing the word 'no'. In response, the other girl frowned. Her eyes trailed over to Marin for a moment, before she gave an odd sounding sigh. Instead of turning around, however, she kept on looking at the merboy, even fluttering her eyelashes and making more of those weird sounds.

"Attina Erteon?"

Perhaps Bria was sick, the preteen mused. After all, none of those noises she was making sounded very healthy. Maybe she was so ill that her mind had warped around this odd idea, making it sound like a very good one, when it obviously wasn't.

"Attina Erteon?"

Okay, Marin didn't exactly have spots all over him, but he certainly shouldn't be getting attention for how he looked. Honestly, Bria had seen him every school year and never cared before; why should that change now? After all, the girl thought to herself, she was already good at dealing with him; it would be stupid for someone like _Bria_ to take over at this point.

"Is Attina Erteon here?"

Besides, she already knew Marin so well, she mused. She'd been to his house a million times to play; _Bria_ had probably only been during his birthday parties. So then it was official! Bria couldn't be allowed to think Marin was cute, when her friend knew him _way_ better than she did and-

"Ouch!" Attina suddenly hissed under her breath, her eyes narrowing angrily at Marin for elbowing her. "What was that for?"

"Mr. Finn's calling you," he answered just as quietly, rolling his eyes at her.

"Oh!" Attina whispered again, before quickly clearing her throat. "I'm here! Attina Erteon, here! Sorry."

Ruefully, the girl looked up at her teacher. She really did try her best to look apologetic. Mr. Finn did not look like he was in the forgiving type mood.

"Well, Miss Erteon, you're not starting off on the right fin." Mr. Finn looked at her shrewdly, before his eyebrows pulled together in an expression of confusion.

"Erteon…Attina Erteon…" He allowed the name to roll off his tongue, before frowning. "You wouldn't, perhaps, be related to Crown Princess Attina Erteon of Atlantica, would you, Miss Erteon?"

The girl sighed heavily, slumping in her seat. You would think by now that all the teachers would have realized that there were _seven_ princesses in the school, with the addition of Ariel this year, of course.

"Yes, that's my full name," she looked up at Mr. Finn with a helpless, almost grimacing sort of smile. She was really trying to downplay this whole situation, already embarrassed enough.

Her teacher, however, did not seem to pick up on that. In fact, he seemed downright appalled. "Oh, accept my apologies, Princess! You can start of on whatever kind of fin you like!" The man gave a nervous laugh, and an immediate bow, focused solely on her.

Attina's cheeks blazed as red as her baby sister's hair. "It's okay," she mumbled softly, looking up at him with newly desperate eyes in the hope that he would abandon this formality.

"No, no, it's not, but it's kind of you to say so anyway, Princess!" Mr. Finn fretted, before hesitating for just a moment, as though he wasn't sure whether or not to do this. Finally, he made a split second decision. "Accept my condolences as well, Princess. Your mother was a wonderful woman; it was a terrible tragedy, and everyone misses her."

Did she say embarrassed? She meant mortified. Now, all the children who had tuned out the entire deal, used to it after so many years, had twisted around in their seats to stare at her. This was an unexpected part of the speech.

It had happened more than once that one of her parents hadn't been able to speak to the teacher beforehand about the 'in school she's not a princess, she's just another student' rule, and Attina had gone through this embarrassing ordeal. Obviously, the day after the issue was usually resolved. It had never been this bad.

And oh, this was bad.

Attina clenched her hand into a fist, trying not to let on how her throat was starting to close and tears wanted to form in her eyes. "Thank you for your condolences," she started in a practiced, monotone voice after saying it so many times, "My sisters and I are coping with these circumstances together, in the palace, as a family, and it helps to know that so many people care."

"Of course, Princess." Mr. Finn said gently, as though he believed the girl would fall apart. When, after two minutes, Attina did not lift her head or say another word, he decided to continue calling roll.

"Rena Fiala?" Everyone seemed startled by the sudden return to normalcy; many students did not look away from the princess, still expecting her to cry.

"Um…here!" It was at Rena's words that made the merchildren shift uncomfortably, turning back around in their seats so that they could look at one another.

"Bace Iber?"

Marin threw another elbow in Attina's direction. The girl, startled from her thoughts, looked sharply at him. He casually looked over at her, noticing how her eyes had reddened, but thankfully, she wasn't crying.

"What _now_?" She hissed, not really in the mood to deal with his antics.

"Can I ask you a question?" He asked quickly, making sure to stay just quiet enough not to attract the attention of his peers.

"Here!"

Attina choked back a bitter laugh. "Sure, why not?"

"Eran Jelan?"

"When did it stop being 'home' and start being 'the palace'?" Marin cocked his head to the side, the question he'd been toying with for awhile finally out.

"Eran Jelan?"

Attina's ranging expressions went from near murderous (something he was quite used to seeing), to an extreme form of dislike, to even sadness as she processed his question. The more she thought about it, the heavier her heart became.

"Over here!"

Finally, she settled on a look that had it all; devastation. In a very quiet, strained voice, she managed to say, "I don't know."


	2. Chapter 2

By lunchtime, Attina was utterly convinced the world had gone mad.

It started off easily enough. There were two very different lunch times; the "baby" lunch, which included her sisters, and the rest of the younger classes. They ate first, and then returned to class. The "big lunch", which now included Attina's class, ate second, with all the older merchildren in school. When one was able to attend the "big lunch", they could anywhere in the cafeteria, with anyone they wanted.

It was a sort of awe-inspiring, nerve wracking kind of thing children dreamed about.

Since the idea was so amazing to them, and frankly a bit overwhelming, it made sense that her class stuck together on this first day. Like in the year's previous, they went with what they knew, not what was _new_.

That's why Attina slid in to the lunch table, next to Talya, with a fairly normal, "Hello."

The mood at the lunch table shifted, suddenly uneasy. This end of the table, which was filled with only girls from her class, looked anxiously at one another. Finally, after nudging one another to speak up, Dorie looked up at the newcomer to the table.

"Oh, um…hi, Attina," the girl said nervously. The princess blinked, unsure why her friend was acting so odd, before she shrugged it off.

"So, what's up?" She asked innocently, poking at her lunch food. The other girls looked unsure at how to answer, expressions of worry flitting across their faces.

"Well, we were _not_ just talking about music, not even a little bit," Rena answered with a distressed chuckle, unable to come up with a better excuse. The other girls hissed at her words of 'shut up' and 'clam it'.

Attina looked up sharply, her heart pounding in her chest. After Queen Athena's death, the outlawing of all music in the kingdom was the second thing on everyone's lips. The girl hadn't heard a single melody since the law had gone into effect, about a month after her mother had been buried.

"Then what _are_ you talking about?" She asked, with forced lightheartedness behind her struggling voice.

Once again, the other girls looked at one another, biting their lips. No one was really sure what to do or say now. After a few moments, it was Talya, or Tally as she liked to be called, who gave a dramatic sigh.

"_I_ think," she started, changing the subject, "that Joren is going to ask me out by the end of today."

Most of the girls, if not all of them, gave squeals of approval. Only Attina blinked in confusion. "Ask you out? What does that mean?"

"You know," Tally waved her hand dismissively, "like he's going to ask me to be his _girlfriend_."

"He is really cute," Emie giggled, casting a glance over at the other end of the table, where all the boys were laughing loudly.

"And I heard that he once drove a chariot, all by himself!" Eran gave a sigh, the same type that Bria had given earlier Attina noted, wrapping her arms around herself. "You guys will be _such_ a good couple."

"I know, right?" Tally laughed, her own eyes wandering over to the boy's, "I just love him so much I could die!"

All the girls gave gasps. Each of them turned their eyes on their orange-tailed friend, worriedly hoping she wouldn't be too affected by the statement. As soon as Tally realized what she said, her eyes went wide.

"I'm sorry!" She turned to the princess with this almost scared look. "I'm so sorry! I didn't mean any offense, honest!"

Attina ignored the girl's apology, more interested in something else. "Wait, you _love_ him?"

Tally nodded hesitantly, biting her lower lip. "Well, yeah. I mean, if I didn't, then why would I want to be his girlfriend?"

Attina blinked, not sure what else to say. Her parents had been in love. But they hadn't _fallen_ in love until they were much, much older than this. Although she and her friends were hardly children (in their minds, at least), it just seemed so…_weird_. Surely if she asked her mother about this later, she'd get a better explanation.

In a flash, the girl felt her heart sink in her chest. Right, she remembered achingly, her mother was gone. It felt odd to ask her father about this, and even if she did, she doubted a reply would come. He'd been so distant lately, so unlike the father she'd known before.

"I guess that makes sense," she finally relented, getting a winning smile from Tally. Despite her mind still spinning on this idea her friends wanting to be boyfriend-girlfriend with the people they had despised the year previous, if they _all_ loved the boys, then why should it be so odd? "So, what are you-"

"Ah!" Kiala, quiet until now, suddenly shrieked.

All the girls gasped, looking up to see Gregar, the smallest, most obnoxious boy in their class, suddenly swimming away. He went back to all the boys at the other end of the table, laughing. They all gave him high-fives, grinning from ear to ear.

"Are you okay?" Bria spluttered first, the closet one to Kiala. "What did he do?!"

Kiala's eyes went wide, her hands flying up to her chest. "He snapped the strap on new seashells!"

"Oh my gosh!" Eran breathed, shocked. "He could've undone it, and then your shells would have fallen off!"

Across from Eran, Dorie gave a roll of her eyes. "Well, yeah, _obviously_. That's the _point_."

"What do you mean?" Attina asked, puzzled by this turn of events. The other girls nodded as well, eagerly leaning in to hear what Dorie had to say.

"Well," the girl started, with a note of triumph in her voice, "I heard my big brother talking with his friends, and they were saying how you can snap the strap on a girls seashells a certain way to make it fall off _completely_. It's like, a badge of honor, or something."

"That's horrible!" Kiala complained, scrunching up her nose. "That Gregar is so bad!"

The girls at the table nodded seriously, all for one moment. Then they broke out into a peal of apprehensive giggles, the same type that had confounded Attina earlier this morning. She stared cluelessly at her friends, waiting for some type of explanation to this craziness.

"They're all looking over here; I hope they're not planning to do it again!" Tally declared, her almost excited voice betraying her words.

"Oh! If Larcan did that to me, I would be so upset!" Emie laughed it off, her serious words not matching her content tone.

What is going happening, Attina wondered to herself. Why did all the girls keep saying they didn't want the boys to do that, when they obviously did? What was going _on_?

"We'll just have to band together to make them stop!" Rena said, her voice breathless with unhidden glee at the prospect of it.

Tally nodded, looking at all the everyone sitting at the table. "We should make a club! The girls-with-shells club!"

"Yeah! Let's do it!" Eran pumped a fist into the air, obviously over her recent experience and ready to do something fun. "And since we're all wearing seashells, it would be perfect; no one would get left out!"

"Wait, what if some of the," here Emie twisted her face in disdain, "_unpopular_ girls want to join our club?"

Unpopular? Attina sat up straighter at the word. It was the first time the distinction had ever been made to describe the other girls in her class.

"We'll tell them they can't, because they're not wearing seashells. They're just not mature enough." Tally said decisively, laying down the ground rules immediately. Attina crossed her arms over her chest, suddenly very wary of these proceedings.

"So then it's settled? Only _popular_ girls with _shells_ can join the club?" Dorie asked, her eyes shining at the prospect.

"Totally!" Tally cried out happily. Then, when she realized there was one voice who hadn't been involved in all this, she turned to the girl. "You agree, right?"

"Um…" Attina chewed on her bottom lip, fidgeting slightly to cover her chest area, or lack thereof. Tally's eyes went wide upon noticing this, as did the other girls, who became rather flustered at the idea.

No one wanted to tell the Crown Princess that she could not join their club, although that's what the rules said. After all, one day, this girl would be their Queen. They could not cast her out, not when she held such power over them.

"Maybe…uh…maybe until you get some seashells, you could be an honorary member." Bria offered, with a thin, distressed smile.

Attina looked up at her friends, their pity burning inside her. She had never been ashamed of wearing a band before; all girls did. Besides, it's not like there was anything _there_. Looking at her friends, she noticed, with a frown, that the same could be said for most of them. They were wearing shells, but ones that had been tied tightly, because there was nothing else to hold them up. So then why were they all wearing something they didn't _need_?

Tally brightened, slightly, at the suggestion. "Yeah, you could _definitely_ be a honorary member, at least until you have some shells."

Attina bristled at the idea that the void between her and her friends would be further separated by something like this. If shells were what it would take to make everything go back to normal, then shells she would get! "I _do_ have seashells though; I just didn't feel like wearing them."

Her lie was either very great, or the girls simply did not want to push the subject further. Either way, Tally left it at "Great! Wear them tomorrow!" and then went on the change the subject.

For the rest of lunch, Attina was quiet. Her mind whirled with how she could possibly get her hands on some shells to wear. Only once did her thoughts break away, and that was when she casually looked over at the group of boys, and locked eyes with Marin. He gave her a sly grin, one that meant he was planning a prank. She glared at him for a second, before turning away.

Bria could have him, she thought with disgust. As long as it kept him and his pranks away from her, Attina could care less what he did. After all, he wasn't cute, not one bit. He was just stupid Marin.


	3. Chapter 3

The school day finally, exhaustingly, ended.

Attina gathered her things quickly, thankful that this was the first year she did not need a parent to sign her out so that she could leave. She doubted her father would have come if it had been so, and she would have hated to spend all night in the classroom.

With a sigh, she was off, going against the crowd of older students to the other side of the school. She made it a point to keep her eyes forward, avoiding the odd looks she was being given. Finally, after wiggling past a many flustered and concerned parents, she made it into the classroom.

"Attina!" The girl only had a few seconds to whip her head around at the sound of her name, before a force to be reckoned with catapulted into her. She struggled to laugh.

"Ariel…your arms…my throat…" With some effort, the girl loosened her younger sister's arms, gasping. Although it was a bit of a struggle, she managed to lift Ariel up in her arms.

Her baby sister's blue eyes were shining, and she did not wait to launch into her adventures of the day. "I got to do lots today! I was kinda sad when you left, but then, we got to do a spelling contest, and guess what? _I_ won the whole thing! I got to go to the toy box _first_ 'cause I won, and I got to play with the guppy doll for a _whole_ ten minutes, but then Gracen wanted it, and you know what?"

Wearily trying to keep up, Attina responded, "What?"

"I said, 'Okay, let's share' and the teacher drew a star next to my name! If I get _four_ more stars, I get to be the line leader!" Ariel beamed at just the thought. Attina smiled, her first genuine one of the day.

"Does that mean you had a good first day of school?" She asked, and when Ariel nodded fiercely, her heart flew with relief.

"The very best!" The child agreed, before wrapping her arms around her sister in a hug. "But I missed you lots," she mumbled faintly, as sincere as she could possibly be.

"I know, I know," Comfortingly, Attina rubbed the girl's back, not wanting to admit that she had missed the child just as much. After all, she was eleven! "Alright, let me sign you out so we can pick up the rest of the girls."

"Okay!" Happy as a clam, Ariel squirmed out of her sister's arms, looking around for a moment before pointing out her teacher and saying, "There's Mrs. Shelly!"

Gently, Attina lowered the girl's arm, reminding, "It's not polite to point."

"I wasn't _pointing_; I was showing you where she was!" Ariel whined, put out by the rebuke. Attina ignored it, grabbing the younger girl's hand and swimming over to the woman.

The teacher, Mrs. Shelly, was swarmed and swamped. Parents, all of whom were worried about their respective child's first day of school, were asking the mermaid questions left and right. With a sigh, Attina pushed through the adults, still clinging onto Ariel and mumbling soft excuse me's all the while.

Someone must have recognized her, for all of a sudden, the adults started to quiet down. Uneasily, they whispered amongst themselves, pity marking their voices. The older princess ignored it, lifting up her head and moving past the shifting grownups. Once she made it to the teacher, she reared herself up to her full, rather unimpressive, height.

"I need to sign my sister out," she said bluntly. The instructor was too busy trying to fix the sign out sheet that she didn't even look at the girl.

"Only parents or pre-designated _adults_ may sign out one of the children to pick them up," Mrs. Shelly answered in a casual tone, waving her hand as though dismissing the subject.

Attina sighed, wishing that her father was doing this, instead of her. It was one of those responsibilities that, now with her mother gone, she supposed he just assumed she would do. "My dad…he can't come. It's my job to pick my little sister up."

"Well, what about your mother?" Mrs. Shelly replied, still focused on fixing the mess that was created on this paper.

Attina bit her lip, ignoring the very loud whispers behind her. She cast a glance over to Ariel, and realized her baby sister was taking this all in with wide eyes. For a moment, with her heart dropping in her chest, she contemplated abandoning her mission to pick up her sisters and going back to the palace.

It was just a momentarily lapse, however. She was not a quitter, and once she set her mind to something, she would do it. She would just have to be more firm this time around.

"_I'm_ the one who has to pick up my sister," she said with a bit more force than she intended. It caught the attention of the teacher, who gave an irritated sigh.

"Look, I already told you," the woman started, finally turning her head to look over at older sibling, "only a parent or pre-approved-oh! Princess!"

Shock rippled across the woman's features, and she quickly bowed. Attina sighed, her cheeks burning up for the second time that day. She turned her green eyes down to the floor, staring embarrassedly at the ground.

"I know it's kind of unusual," she started quietly, squeezing sister's tiny hand for comfort, "but I'll be the one picking Ariel up this year. My dad is…he's busy working."

It wasn't a total lie. Her father had thrown himself into his work ever since her mother had passed. First came the Triton Acts, which banned all music in the kingdom. That had taken up the better part of the summer to be made into a law. Now she was sure that he was just using it as an excuse not to deal with his daughters.

"I guess, in this case, we could make an exception…" Mrs. Shelly seemed hesitant, her eyes flickering between both princesses. Rather unwillingly, she handed the sign out sheet and a pen to the older girl, who quickly scribbled her initial's next to her sister's name.

"Thank you," Attina was quick to say, handing back the sheet and pen to the woman. "Come on, Ariel."

"Bye, Mrs. Shelly!" Ariel called out, as her sister turned to leave. She was blissfully unaware of anything except how happy she would be to see her other sisters.

"Goodbye, Princess Ariel," the woman said, sort of in a daze. Attina froze at the name, turning back around to face the woman once more.

"Actually," she corrected, her tone rather icy, "at school, she's _just_ Ariel."

She wasn't sure where that had come from, but knew that she could not take it back. Something inside of her had just…snapped, at the idea that Ariel would be considered any different from her schoolmates. The teacher fell out of her daze, nodding quickly.

"Just Ariel it is then," the woman said aloud, though it was mostly to herself.

Attina sighed once more, before heading out of the classroom. Swimming beside her, Ariel started to prattle on about other parts of her school day, completely oblivious to what had just happened. After a few minutes, they were outside another classroom door, this one just a smidgen less crowded with parents.

The preteen looked over her sister for a moment, struggling with whether to leave her outside the classroom to wait, or to go in with her. She recalled that for the past few years, her mother used to simply pop her head in the doorway, and she would then get signed out to leave. What used to happen when she was younger, say, six years of age, was a memory she had long since forgotten.

"Let's go get Andrina, together," she decided on a whim, figuring that Ariel was likely to swim off without supervision, even if it was just for a minute.

Perhaps it might have been easier to get Alana and Adella first, then have moved on to the little girls, but Attina felt bad. After all, she remembered, faintly, being that young and wanting to see a familiar face as soon as possible. Besides, the older girls had their friends; they would be fine waiting just a tad bit longer.

Ariel looked up with a cheerful smile, suddenly reminding her sister why this was all worth it in the first place. "Okay!"

So the cycle continued, and Attina managed to pick up every one of her sisters, with the same charade playing out every time. At least after Arista it had cleared out enough so that she could simply show her face in the door, and her sisters would come to her, instead of the other way around. After all, it was difficult enough keeping track of the younger girls.

By the time they reached the palace, Attina was worn out. She felt like she could take a nice, long nap, and never be seen or heard from for the next hundred years. Unfortunately, she still had to get her hands on those dratted seashells.

Wearily, once the girls were settled down with the promise of a snack (to be brought to them, of course), and their toys, Attina turned to Alana. "I need to go buy some stuff for school. You're in charge until I come back, okay?"

Alana frowned, looking up from doing her dolly's 'makeup'. "Can't you just ask somebody to go buy it for you?"

"No," Attina answered quickly, her heart pounding, "This is for this project my class has to do; I have to get really specific stuff."

"You already got a project, on the first day of school?" Alana squeaked, her eyes becoming wide with a sense of dread. "Is your teacher mean?"

"He's okay, I guess," the girl answered, wincing at the memory of him bowing. "It's just one of those older kid things, you know, more homework and all that."

Although she was rather suspicious, Alana kept it to herself, figuring that Attina wouldn't lie. "Okay, go buy what you need. But don't be late for dinner; Daddy was in a grumpy mood this morning."

"I know, I know," Attina replied easily, relief swarming her when she realized that she was free to go. "I'll be back way before dinner, don't worry. Just make sure everyone eats their snack and starts their homework."

"I will," Alana promised, hoping against hope that everything turned out alright. She never liked being in charge; for a ten year old, it was a rather daunting idea. "Bye."

"Bye, and thanks a lot, 'Lanie," Attina responded gratefully, smirking when her sister stuck out her tongue at the use of the babyish nickname.


	4. Chapter 4

She really wasn't lying when she'd told Alana that she had to buy some school supplies. The palace had a lot of what she needed, but there were always those specific items that, as the firstborn, no one would be handing down to her. She didn't mind it; the only thing that hurt was that this was the first time she went school shopping without her mother.

"At least I can go to the marketplace by myself," she mumbled to herself, trying to change the direction of her thoughts. Something in her peripheral vision caught her eye, and when she looked over, her face went slack. "Of course, 'by myself' means that the guards won't quit watching me."

She wash't overly surprised that she was being followed by the castle guards. She could only remember one time, when she and Alana had given Sebastian the slip at the marketplace, that she had truly shaken off her annoying shadows. Still, in the past few years, she had accepted that for the rest of her life, anywhere she went, so would they. After all, that was their job.

However, today she didn't want to be reasonable about this situation. "I am _not_ going to get seashells with them watching," she mumbled to herself. "I'll need to sneak away."

The thought of breaking the rules in such a big way filled her with a rush of adrenaline. Being the Crown Princess meant that she couldn't rebel like this as often as she'd like. It meant that she just had to keep her small rebellions, like refusing to eat any vegetables, quiet.

"Okay, how do I escape…?" Holding close a bag with the things she'd purchased, the girl started to casually look left and right, mumbling to herself in the process.

Just when she was about to give up entirely, she found what she was looking for. A stall that was surrounded by large adults, with just an opening big enough for her to fit through. She didn't hesitate to go through the small gap in the crowd, hardly thinking this through.

Once she was unable to see anything, because of the adults surrounding her view, she silently cheered. If she could not see the guards, they couldn't see her, that much she knew. Now, to keep it this way…

Immediately, Attina dropped down to the seabed. Then, using her arms to swat away people's tails, she started to crawl. The grownups, so concerned with whatever this stall was selling, didn't even notice her on the ground. Though her heart pumped in her ears, the girl did not stop until she reached the other side, managing to wiggle her way out of a narrow exit.

The first thing she did, after coming back to a normal, upright position, was look all around her. Nothing. The guards probably thought she was still at that stall.

"Thank Neptune," she sighed to herself in relief, "I'm _free_."

With a giddy, almost astonished laugh, the girl started to swim from the marketplace to the shops. Anyone could set up a stall in the marketplace; to have a shop was a big deal. A shop meant quality products guaranteed, which is why the seashell shop was located there.

Attina had gone into this store before, but that only once or twice before, and always with her mother. Back then, like now, this store embarrassed her to no degree. This store didn't just sell seashells, no, it also sold…well, it sold shells that no one could wear out. The type of shells that were made differently, fancier, to show off more of the chest area.

"Keep focused, keep focused," the girl suddenly said to herself, averting her eyes with no small amount of shame from those _other_ shells. Something about them made her feel…uneasy.

In another section of the store, there was, thankfully, the regular shells. Attina made a straight path to those, more than relieved to have found them. Now she could grab a pair and leave this place!

Unfortunately, that would be easier said than done.

A woman, a worker for the store probably, came from nowhere to the girl. "Do you need any help?" Her tone was overly sweet.

Attina chose to ignore that though, determined to get out fast. "Um…I need seashells."

"Alright," the woman looked at her for a moment, up and down, before returning her gaze back to the seashells. "What size does your mother need?"

For a moment, the princess was struck dumb. Her mother? That didn't make any sense whatsoever!

Then, rationality kicked in. She thinks I'm picking up some shells for my mom, the girl mused silently, and she probably doesn't even know who I am. Well, that wasn't exactly as planned…but at the very least, it saved her a heck load of trouble of dealing with the awkwardness.

"No, I need seashells for _me_," she said with some determination, trying hard not to let it show how embarrassed she was to even _say_ the word seashells.

The mermaid looked her up and down once again, this time frowning in confusion. "You haven't _got_ anything, sweetie."

"Yes, I do!" Attina tried to argue, lying through her teeth. "You just can't tell because my band is…because my chest band is so big!"

"Really?" The woman responded, unconvinced. "It looks fine to me. Why don't you swim along; you're taking up valuable time from customers who actually _need_ something."

"No, you don't understand!" She was starting to grow desperate now, realizing that the woman wasn't going to be helping her after all. "I _have_ to get some shells! I just _have_ to!"

"And _I_," the woman's lips curled in discontent, "have a job to do. Come back in a few years, when you're _not_ going to waste my time."

"But-" Attina begged, literally being dragged out of the store.

"Goodbye, and have a nice day," the sweet-tone returned, and after the preteen was pushed out of the store, she heard the shell door slam behind her.

For a second, all Attina was able to do was stare at that door. She contemplated pounding against it, making sure that she was heard. Then, she quickly decided against it. The very last thing she needed was to make a scene outside the seashells store.

Hot tears suddenly filled her vision. She suddenly wanted to cry. Like, just cry and never show her face out in public again. And the perfect place to hide away from all the oceans was at the coral reefs, her favorite spot in the whole, wide world.

Suddenly, the girl was sprinting away, swimming at speeds that were probably aquatic records. Her tail sliced through the water with an unprecedented amount of force, and any faces she saw became a blur of bubbles behind her. When an unexpected sob ripped from her through, she put her head down and balled her fists up, pushing herself even faster.

She arrived at the coral reefs not five minutes later, and blindly, she curled against them and started to full on cry.

"S-Stupid store," she muttered, her anger starting to rise. "Stupid s-school, stupid teachers, stupid M-Marin, s-stupid little sisters! It's n-not fair!"

Her fists pounded the sand. It helped, slightly. Furiously, she sniffled and found herself muttering even more.

"It's not f-fair!" She repeated once more, slamming her fist into the sand again. "I d-don't want things to c-change! I don't w-wanna be a princess, or be i-in charge! I'm just A-Attina!"

She pressed her tail closer to her chest, hugging it tight. The bag on her shoulder fell off, falling to the ground, and she did nothing about it. Instead, she found her gaze looking upwards, at the sun shining through the surface. Something akin to heartbreak made her sob again.

"A-All I want is _you_, M-Momma," she whispered, so soft that a bubble would have stood against it. She sighed.

There are specific moments in life when, no matter how hard a girl might try, she needed her mother. It was just impossible to do this otherwise. And besides, her Momma would have had all the answers to her questions.

After all, how was an eleven year old supposed to know why Tally was now officially dating Joren (he had 'asked her out' right before class ended), when last year she punched him in the face? How was she supposed to explain to adults that even though she had a father, she was the one who was dealing with her sisters? How was she supposed to keep her friends, when they all treated her so _different_? Or how was she supposed to try to fit in, when she couldn't even buy a pair of seashells?

"Oh, the waves r-roll low," her soft singing voice wobbled slightly from misuse, but she didn't care. "And the w-waves roll high, and so it goes."

Glumly, she started to trace circles into the sand, letting her anxieties fade with the quiet song. "Under a b-bright, blue, endless sky. W-waves try to measure, the days that we t-treasure…"

She looked upwards, into the expanse of sea that lay beyond the coral reefs. She was just beyond the city limits of Atlantica, which should have meant more to her than it really did.

"Wave h-hello, and wave goodbye."

She sighed once more, shaking her head. Her father could pass whatever law he wanted, but she refused to be silenced. She would never sing in public again, but when she was all alone, out here surrounded by the beautiful coral, she was a girl who longed for anyway to connect with her lost mother. He would never take that from her.

"W-What do I _do_, Momma?" She wondered aloud, seeing all her problems laid out before her like a giant tidal wave.

Then, suddenly, she felt a tug from a familiar memory, a conversation she'd had with her mother about a year before. Gently, the queen had pulled her aside, after she had thrown something at Arista.

_"No matter what, you need to take care of your little sisters, Attina. They look up to you, and that means you have to set the right example for them."_

Back then, annoyed that she was being lectured, she had brushed it off. Now, however, now it felt like her eyes were opening for the first time. A sudden rush of emotion made the girl sit up straight, and wipe the snot away with the back of her arm.

She understood what her mother had been trying to say now. Her sisters needed someone to take care of them, someone to pretty much raise them, because her father wasn't going to do it. And that person would have to be her.

"They _need _me, more than ever," Attina mused, sniffling slightly. "I can't let them down."

She was finally starting to understand what she could not fathom a year before. She would have to face multiple challenges, like school, adults, and getting seashells, and she would have to do it alone. That way, when it was her little sisters turns, she would have already set the example and would be able to give them advice. It wouldn't be easy, but the idea of that carefree, cheerful smile from Ariel made her more determined than ever.

Suddenly more sure of her position than she'd ever been before, Attina grabbed her bag and stood up. She wiped at her eyes, sniffling still. Then, she turned to leave, but found herself colliding into someone else.

"Oomph!"

"Oh!"

"Sorry, I was-what are _you_ doing out here?" She was on her guard in a moment's notice, glaring at none other than Marin.

The boy glared back at her. "I think I left my new sponge-ball. What are _you_ doing out here?"

Attina placed both her hands on her hips, giving a definitive 'hmph!'. "That's none of your business."

"Fine." Marin snorted, crossing his arms over his chest. Attina's glare deepened.

"_Fine_," she said back, adding a bit of a punch to it so that she wasn't outdone by the merboy. He looked at her shrewdly for a moment, before his eyes flickered out uncertainly up at the slowly disappearing sun.

He sighed. "It's gonna be really dark soon, and if I get home late, it's going to be _your_ fault."

Attina followed his gaze upwards, and for the first time in her life, an icy hatred surrounded her heart. She loathed the surface and all who dwelled there. She would until the day she died, she realized.

"Well, I think I missed dinner, standing here dealing with_ you_," she replied, tearing her eyes away from the surface with a frown.

Casually, Marin looked over at her, keeping his voice even. "If you want, you can come over and have dinner at my house. My mom won't mind."

Attina blinked in surprise. That was the first time, in a long time, that someone had used the word 'mom' around her, someone who knew who she was. She found herself almost…grateful, in a way. At least Marin was still treating her normal.

"It's okay," she declined, shaking her head. "I can have the cook make me something else at the palac-at home."

"If you're too much of a guppy, I'll swim you home." Marin declared with that lazy half-smile of his.

Attina found herself looking at his features and determining, once and for all, that he was a _little_ cute, when he wasn't being overly annoying. Hm. Maybe Bria was onto something after all.

"Please, if you swam me home, and the guards saw you, they'd think you kidnapped me earlier. _Then_ they would arrest you, and when you started crying, we'd see who was the real guppy was," Attina declared, smirking when she saw annoyance creep into his features.

"Hey, what's that?" Marin suddenly asked, pretending to be overly interested in the ground. Attina frowned, looking down as well.

"What?" She asked quickly, almost worriedly. Without a word, Marin gave her his own smirk, before reaching over and punching her shoulder…_hard_. She winced, moaning, "What was that for?!"

"No looking down, remember? It's the number one rule of the game," He stated cheekily, while Attina glared at him and rubbed her shoulder. Then, a truly grand idea entered her mind.

"I thought you weren't allowed to _play_ the game, so you stopped," she replied, narrowing her eyes.

Marin gave a sheepish grin, rubbing the back of his neck. "Oh yeah, I guess I forgot about that."

Attina rolled her eyes, and then sighed theatrically, looking upwards once more, "I better get going."

"Oh." Marin blinked, disappointed for just a moment, before shrugging it off. He followed her gaze upwards, just for a moment, and it was all the girl needed. "Okay, see you at school?"

She grinned at him, reaching over to return a stinging punch to his _own _shoulder. "That's for breaking the number two rule of the game; no looking up." Triumphantly, she held her head high, smirking with pleasure. "Yup. See you at school."

"Hey!" Marin cried, rubbing his shoulder now. "I thought we stopped playing the game!"

Attina turned around slightly, already starting to swim back to her own home. "_You_ stopped playing. I never said _I _did."

Just like that, the girl laughed as she sped off. She knew that once she got home, she was in huge trouble for giving the guards the slip. Not to mention, she was coming back after dinner, when she had promised Alana she'd be there _way_ before. However, in this moment, she didn't care. She was just happy to have had a great highlight in this otherwise lousy day, even if it was with _him_.

"Those guys are crazy," Marin muttered to himself, watching with a grin as the mergirl sped off. "Attina's _definitely_ kind of pretty…when she's not being a pain in the tail." 

* * *

_**So how did you guys like it? Tell me in your **_REVIEWS_**, please! It just takes a minute to write a few words, and trust me, that goes a long way. **_


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